I am an entrepreneur and communications expert from Salt Lake City, founder of Snapp Conner PR, and author of Beyond PR: Communicate Like A Champ The Digital Age, available at http://amzn.to/1AO0PxX. I am also a frequent author and speaker on Business Communication. The opinions I express (especially when tongue in cheek) are entirely my own. My newsletter is the Snappington Post, available at http://bit.ly/1iv67Wk

The 7 Strategies For Getting Past Gatekeepers

Do you know how many people approach me every week with article pitches? Neither do I, but the number is huge. However, this salesman—a first-time author—managed to use the strategies in his book to get successfully through to me, a busy CEO with a part-time unpaid gig writing articles about entrepreneurship for Forbes.

His name is EksAyn Anderson and he’s an expert on getting past gatekeepers, which is one of the critical skills necessary for succeeding in sales. EksAyn (“Eks” to friends) is a speaker and trainer as well, but has spent much of his professional life selling in settings ranging from door-to-door to enterprise business development to government sales. His book The Key To The Gateis available now.

EksAyn Anderson is a speaker, an author and an expert on sales.

Anderson lives near my neighborhood and business, it turns out, but I didn’t know him when he began his efforts to reach me on April 1 of this year (no joke). My records show he began with a call that got him to my own gatekeeper, one of my agency’s other partners. He then followed up politely with emails, more emails, more calls, and was eventually able to get directly to me.

After the first phone conversation, he was proactive enough to arrive at my office without an appointment (generally the kiss of death for people who are trying to pitch me) and waited in our lobby through an hour-long meeting for the chance to introduce himself (politely—no pushiness) and to tell me hello. Clearly, his strategies work. Today his persistence and patience is rewarded. Without further ado, here are Anderson’s seven secrets for getting to the decision makers you need to reach to close your own sales:

Aim high. In his earliest days of selling, Anderson looked for anyone he could get to. A pitch is a pitch, right? Wrong. When he reached mid-level managers, he was generally rebuffed. Rudely. Then he realized that influence flows downward. When he began with the boss, as often as not he’d end up making his pitch to the same mid-level manager, but under the boss’s direction. Now the manager would listen to him with utmost respect for as long as he needed. Lesson learned. Find the key decision maker and invest your energy in getting to that person, not to the people below.

Treat Gatekeepers Like Gold. Anderson recalls one sales prospect, a high-level director, telling him, “I have people call me all day and you are the first one I’ve allowed to come in to show me your product—because you were so nice to my secretary.” At the time, Anderson was surprised—but over years of experience he has learned what a difference it can make in sales success to recognize and treat the assistant or the gatekeeper like the golden resource they can invariably turn out to be. Let them know how much you appreciate their professionalism and their assistance. Let them know you’ll be sending a note of appreciation to their boss (and then follow through). Being rude or dismissive to these intermediaries is, conversely, the death sentence.

Use A Personal Touch. Send a handwritten note. Make it a point to write down and remember the personal interests and details of the individuals you work with. Also remember the Law of Reciprocity in the favors you ask of people. For example, I had lunch today to provide PR coaching to a young entrepreneur who is likely not yet a fit for our services. He realized I would be too busy to serve as a permanent member of his advisory board, but asked if he might approach me again in six months, and then surprised me by asking, “Now what can I do for you?” I was taken aback enough that I had no answer at first, but managed to come up with, “Well, you and your team could follow my columns.” Done. With this one step taken, I walked away from the discussion with an extra regard for this young team rather than feeling I’d given away my professional advice free of charge.

Learn “Jiujitsu Email.” Jiujitsu is a practice of out-maneuvering or out-smarting opponents as opposed to taking them on by brute force. (For example, a 150-pound person confronted by a 330-pound person could prevail more readily by tripping the big guy or stepping out of the way as he lunges, so that his bigger size now works against him, rather than you.) With email being ubiquitous, the methods of using email communications to advance a sales process are more than a bit of an art. Among other things, Anderson advises a process that uses first a message that doesn’t sell, but points out a challenge or problem the company has and the name of his company as an introduction. Then a call. When the gatekeeper screens the call, he asks if he can include the gatekeeper as well on the follow-up message to ensure the recipient gets it. As traction takes hold he continues to copy the decision maker to the thread, to keep them aware of the momentum and the homework that’s happening, and at the right point, the question reaches the tipping point and he is ready to roll.

Integrity Counts. Particularly in selling, the honest statements of “I’m not sure my offering is right for you,” are disarming. They are honest, and they leave nothing for the listener to combat in examining with you if there is, indeed, a fit to be had. As other experts such as David H. Maister, author of True Professionalism, have noted, being fully honest is the sign of a good long- term partner. And while some might criticize a “good partner” for leaving money on the table that could have been had in an aggressive or manipulative closing process, research shows that good partners actually conduct more business and earn more revenue over time.

Learn The Art of Getting Your Way. In selling, learn to listen more than you speak, Anderson says. Let the other party take the opening position. Listen carefully to their thoughts and concerns. Great negotiators learn to flip the discussion around politely and quickly. For example, when the car salesman asks, “What do you need?” Anderson might quickly respond with, “Great question,” (a compliment) and then follow it up immediately with, “How low can you go?” The salesman says, “I can’t go to my manager with that question. I need for you to give me a number; then I’ll ask how close we can get.” Anderson would reply with, “Wow, you’re a great negotiator. I still need for you to go to your manager and see how low he can go. Will you do that?” Ultimately, the salesperson comes back and names a sum $3,000 below the sticker price. “That’s trouble,” Anderson responds. “We can drop it another $1,000,” the salesman responds (so far the price has dropped $500 a word as Anderson turns with his wife and heads to the door). “Wait! Come back, and let’s see if we can get him to agree to a price of $19,600.” Anderson has now learned the bottom line and the discussion proceeds. In a number of examples, he shows readers the strategies for keeping control of the conversations that allow them to get what they need.

Learn To Pull It All Together (“The Dance.”) Few situations proceed according to template. As an advanced strategy, Anderson teaches readers how to role-play the selling discussions they’ll find themselves in to develop deftness at moving from strategy to strategy well.

In all, Anderson’s strategies are straightforward, but can provide solid reminders of the methods that get a sales opportunity off the ground. As his biggest takeaway, however, he reminds readers that treating other people, all people, with genuine respect is the most effective way to a goal. And by treating the people nearest to the decision maker with respect, you are well on your way to unlocking the gatekeeper door.

For those who would like to connect with EksAyn Anderson further, his personal website address is www.eksayn.com.

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So do I! But I have to say, I was pretty impressed with EksAyn’s ability to get past them. Most people don’t get to me that reliably, although it did take him a fair number of tries and a fair amount of time ;) Thanks for your note, Devin

This article most definitely fills in the very apparent quality content gap for this subject (getting past the gatekeeper)! Many takeaway points that anyone can implement. I, too, believe that the Law of Reciprocity most definitely plays a vital role in sales success. Personal touches to the sales process (i.e. handwritten letters) seem to be all too sparse within sales procedures nowadays, making it an easy way to set yourself apart from others and reap the rewards for doing so. Fantastic article, Cheryl — Could not be better!

Thanks very much, Michelle! Of all the pitches I get on a daily basis (not kidding), his was one that paid off and I felt he’d handled the invitation incredibly well. I’m not surprised he’s successful. Thanks for your note! Best regards, Cheryl